COLCHESTER, Vt. (2/1/23) – It was quite the evening for junior forward Ines Gimenez Monserrat (Mallorca, Spain) who led the Franklin Pierce women's basketball team to a decisive victory over Saint Michael's College, 59-41 on Wednesday night at the Vincent C. Ross Sports Center.

For Pierce, it was the women's first Northeast-10 Conference victory since December 6^th, when they defeated Saint Anselm College be a score of 63-60. The win also snaps a five game losing streak, as they improve to 7-14 (3-11 NE10) overall. Saint Michael's continues to have a down year, and drops their 17^th straight contest to move to 1-18 (0-15 NE10) on the season.

The Ravens and Purple Knights battled for the lead through the first minute of play, with Pierce holding a slim 6-5 advantage off of back-to-back three-pointers from Ines Gimenez Monserrat and freshman Leana Heitmann (Pompey, N.Y.). However, following an exciting opening minute, both teams would go scoreless over the next four minutes of play. This then transitioned into a 6-2 run for the Ravens to close out the quarter, which started and ended on two-point jumpers from junior Collette Mulderig (Scranton, Pa.) for a 12-7 Raven advantage.

In the second quarter, Ines Gimenez Monserrat began to heat up as she converted for 12 points on a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor, including a pair made from behind the arc. The 12 points would contribute to an 18-11 scoring advantage for the Ravens in the second, with the bulk of the points coming in the final three minutes of the half. By halftime, the Ravens had opened up a lofty 30-18 lead.

At the mid-way point of the third quarter, the Ravens continued their strong play with an 11-4 scoring run, bumping their lead to 15 with buckets from freshman Kenzie Sirowich (Seymour, Conn.), Leana Heitmann and Ines Gimenez Monserrat. The balanced attack would carry over into the final quarter, as Pierce closed it out with a 16-13 scoring edge with all but four of the points belonging to Gimenez Monserrat.

Her 34 total points scored was not only the highest individual totals for the Ravens this season, but was also a new career-high for Ines Gimenez Monserrat as she finished the evening shooting 14-of-19 from the floor and 4-of-5 from three-point range. Additionally, the Raven junior collected six boards, four steals and two assists. The Ravens finished with just one other scorer in double figures, as Leana Heitmann went on to tally 12 points while adding two rebounds, three assists and two steals. Through the night, Pierce shot 23-of-50 (46.0%) as a group, scoring 17 points of Purple Knight turnovers along with a 34-33 edge in rebounds.

It will be a lengthy road trip this coming weekend for women's basketball, as they get set for a Saturday matinee matchup with the Northeast-10's most westerly team, Le Moyne College, with tipoff at 1:00 p.m.